Skulduggery Pleasant: After the End
by Nullarius
Summary: Yes, Skulduggery and Valkyrie tricked Darquesse into thinking she's destroyed the world. That's it, done, the end, story over? I think not... Darquesse is still alive. And she's not going to stayed tricked for much longer.
1. Chapter 1

**Skulduggery Pleasant: After the End**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant or any of the characters therein. Hope you enjoy...**

 _That's them done for_ , Darquesse thought. She felt a little bit sorry about Skulduggery Pleasant: all the times they'd shared together. Skulduggery had never really known Valkyrie, she mused smugly. She had been the dominant one inside Valkyrie's head. And now she was the only one left. She remembered Tanith Low: she'd been a little hard to kill. Emotionally. Otherwise, it was as easy as clicking her fingers: she clicked her fingers and destroyed the world.

Funny place, this was. As much as she hated to admit it, Darquesse was wounded. Flying face-first into Beijing had stuffed up her spinal cord and destroying Australia had mangled up her legs a bit. She sat down on a rock in this strange, empty parallel dimension. _It better contain the Faceless Ones,_ she thought. _But I'll wait until I'm healed, then they show up, and I'll destroy them._ This was going to be the most fun ever.

Valkyrie had not been doing much that morning. The terrible guilt she had for momentarily killing her sister was crushing and all-consuming. _Skulduggery would never consider killing his family: he died for them,_ she thought. _He wouldn't even kill me for a second. I'm worse than he is. She saved the world: not me. She saved the world for all of us, that's what I'm going to tell her when she grows up,_ Valkyrie thought, holding her sister in her arms. She was babbling and smiling and clearly couldn't remember the incident, but knowing it happened was bad enough. The whole thing was like a nightmare that would soon fade in time. What did confuse her, however, was that after Darquesse went into a different dimension, there had been no… separation. There was no feeling to indicate that she was dead, and there hadn't been one since. Darquesse was part of her mind, and she had expected to feel a difference if she was dead. Either she had defeated the Faceless Ones, or she had moved on to another universe. Absent-mindedly, she called Skulduggery.

"Hi, Skulduggery, how are you?" she asked.

"As wise-cracking and good-looking as ever," he replied.

"Well," she said, trying to contain her amused annoyance, "I just wanted to ask you something. You know how Darquesse is in a different dimension now, damaging stuff and destroying people, I just thought that I might have felt our connection sever when she went through a different dimension."

"You mean that you _didn't_ feel that?" Skulduggery asked.

"No. Not at all."

"Nothing changed at all, and hasn't for weeks? No splitting headache, or the disappearance of that part of your mind?"

"No." Skulduggery's line crackled silently for a while.

"This is bad," he said softly. "I assumed you had. By now the Separation should have happened. If not, she'll notice that you're still alive and the whole plan will be destroyed. She'll come back here and get us all."

"No pressure."

"I'll head over now." Ten minutes later, Valkyrie joined him in the Bentley and set off.

"So what can we do about it?" Valkyrie asked.

"We need to find out where this all began," he said. "Then we can cut the bond between you forever, and it should kill her. She lives off you."

"Like a parasite?"

"Very much like that. We need to get you un-infested."

"Thanks. So where are we going?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Where are we going?" He hesitated.

"We're going to visit Doctor Nye."

They were admitted into the jail with minimum fuss: everybody knew they were the world's best Sanctuary detectives. They went down to Nye's cell in a cold, dark little place where the sunlight didn't shine. Probably just the way Nye liked it.

"Hello," Skulduggery said cheerfully into his cell. "How are you?"

There was no answer for a second. Then Dr Nye, as horrible and evil as ever, moved slowly to the bars of its cell, black as night and towering.

"Well, well, Mr Pleasant and Miss Cain," it said. "The last two people I would ever have thought would visit me."

"Well, it _is_ a visit"-

"But you want something. You always do. As I said, I know you wouldn't be visiting me to say 'happy birthday'."

"Is it your birthday?" Valkyrie asked.

"No," it said.

"Then of course we haven't," Valkyrie replied. "Besides, you did nearly dissect my soul in an alternative dimension."

"Did I?" It's voice was raspy and harsh, towering above Valkyrie through the bars. She was very glad to be on this side of them.

"Yes. That's what we've come to talk to you about," Skulduggery said. "Do you know much about the soul and brain in this dimension?"

"What would you like to know?" it said, large yellow eyes luminous in the darkness of the cell.

"Darquesse is connected to Valkyrie somewhere in her mind. We want to find out where she is anchored and destroy her." Nye thought for a while.

"Well, I would really have to cut up"-

"You ain't cutting up _anything,_ Nye," Valkyrie interrupted. "You've already done it at least twice, I'm sure you can remember." It glared at her sulkily.

"Well, your case is very rare, but… I think I can surmise what happened. Everybody has a good side and an evil side, but your evil side magnified a million times and became a separate being. Darquesse is the direct link to the source of magic: she is your true name, but for the first time ever, it is likely a true name – your true name – is _wrong,_ " Nye explained.

"We know that if someone discovers a person's true name they can control them utterly, body and soul. But did that happen with Darquesse? No. Nobody could control her. That suggests that Darquesse isn't your true name at all – it was a mistake from the source of magic that gave you the wrong true name. Maybe swapping a true name, or an accident in conveying a true name, is deadly: it magnifies out of proportion and turns evil, drawing on the source of magic for power."

"Brilliant," Skulduggery murmured. "That would explain why she was so incredibly powerful. That would mean, Valkyrie, that you aren't at all evil. She is an accident."

"An expensive one. So, what can we do about it?" Valkyrie asked.

"It would seem that Darquesse is connected to your soul," Nye said. "And messing around with souls causes more trouble than you started with."

"So what can we do?" Skulduggery asked.

"If you let me have a look at her, I may be able to remove Darquesse," it said.

"No chance of that," Valkyrie said.

"Well, in that case, you'll have to do the procedure yourself," Nye said. "And it's going to be very, very dangerous."

Darquesse had been waiting around for a few days now, turning thin air into rubber ducks and melting the rocks beneath her feet with pure willpower. Now she was healed, she was ready to take on the Gods. She recalled that funny sensation when she destroyed Earth: that feeling of a hand pressing down upon her head. She didn't feel that now. She never felt it before. Strange, actually.

The only hand pressing down on her head had been that psychic, just before she destroyed Earth and all the way through it… then it was gone. Strange, that.

But Darquesses' mind had surpassed all others in its thinking. She knew that those psychics had done more than simply a failed attempt at subduing her. In fact, when Valkyrie died, she hadn't felt anything change.

They had tricked her. She seethed with rage so much that the dirt beneath her turned to dust and the dust melted into lava. They had made her believe that she was destroying them, making her see what she wanted to see. They were still alive!

"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, and with the power of her voice killed every living thing within a radius of 100m. She had to get back! _She had to finish them!_

But suddenly something caught her eye: black shapes flying towards her, far, far away.

She could feel their power from here. Thousands of black dragon-lizard creatures, armed with needle-sharp teeth and hideous claws with twenty riders on each scaly back: Darquesse remembered Skulduggery saying once that the Faceless Ones 'had pets. And their pets had pets'. Here they were. An army. The Faceless Ones were coming.

Darquesse smiled. Those losers could wait. The Faceless Ones were here, and she was going to take them down.

However, she mused, taking them down with nobody to watch her incredible skill would be a disappointment. Using the skills she'd been developing, she reached back to Valkyrie's alive and working mind one dimension away and said: "Hi, gorgeous. Watch this."

Suddenly, Valkyrie could see nothing. Nothing was in front of her. Nothing was around her. It was like sinking into the worst nightmare imaginable: that terrible, terrible voice.

" _Hi, gorgeous. Watch this."_

Suddenly, she gasped and everything came rushing back. "Skulduggery!"

Tears came pouring from her eyes. She gasped as her chest felt constricted.

"Skulduggery, she knows!" Valkyrie gasped. "She knows we tricked her, she knows we're alive!"

Skulduggery stared at her outside Nye's cell. "How do you know?"

"Darquesse talked. Just then. She's about to fight the Faceless Ones." She felt giddy. They couldn't let Darquesse back in. All that effort couldn't be for nothing.

" _What are we going to do!?"_ Valkyrie exclaimed.

"Firstly, we're going to calm down," Skulduggery said.

"But bloody Darquesse is going to bust back in here and kill us for real!" Valkyrie exclaimed.

"Well, in that case, let's panic," he said. She looked at him and smiled.

"So, Nye, what do we have to do?" Valkyrie said, calming down, turning back to Nye.

But Skulduggery was fixated on something at the end of the corridor.

"Val," he said, and she turned. Somebody was sprinting up the corridor, brandishing a sword in his grasp.

"The sparrow flies south for"- Skulduggery began.

"Onto it," Valkyrie said and roundhouse kicked her attacker in the face, just out of range of his blade. He reeled and fell on the floor with a clang.

"What?" said Nye and then there was another intruder clad in black with a sword sprinting at them.

"The sparrow flies south for – _WAIT!"_ Skulduggery yelled as Tanith Low ducked Valkyrie's punch.

"Thanks for the warning," Valkyrie said dryly.

"Val!" Tanith exclaimed weakly, clutching her side. Blood trickled from the wound.

"Tanith, what's happened? Who are they?" Valkyrie asked.

"They've been chasing you," she gasped. "Don't worry, that was the last one. I took down the other six myself."

"Nice," Skulduggery said.

"I'm good like that," Tanith replied. "Now, can you help me a bit?"

"Of course," he said. "Why were they attacking us?"

"Not entirely sure," she gasped. "I think they worship the Faceless Ones."

Skulduggery and Valkyrie looked at each other.

"Tanith, Darquesse is alive and she's trying to get back," Valkyrie said. She turned back to Nye. "So what do we do?"

"You said she talked to you?" it said. "Next time that happens, have a past ally of her's near you. At least two. They may make her unconsciously drop her guard and concentrate on you, trying to possess them again to make them kill you."

"Great."  
"It will distract her from the Faceless Ones! Then, Valkyrie, you must concentrate on not allowing her into your mind. Skulduggery, while she's doing that, remind Valkyrie of her earliest memories of magic, before she knew her true name and use your magic to form a Sigil. If that's right, it may reverse her. She might cease to exist. But it's dangerous, because if you make a mistake in the sigil you will delete Valkyrie from existence, or if you let Darquesse control the situation you will die. Good luck."

"Thank you," Valkyrie said. "You've been very helpful."

"Yes," Skulduggery said disapprovingly. He put one skeletal arm around Tanith Low, supporting her, and Valkyrie did the same on the other side. Shuffling past the unconscious security guard, they exited the building.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well done! You've reached Part Two of my story. Funnily enough, I still don't own Skulduggery Pleasant or any of the characters. Enjoy**!

"So," Valkyrie said, after Tanith had healed her wounds with the healing rock in the bath. They were at Skulduggery's house. "We've got one of Daquesse's past allies – if you're going to volunteer, Tanith. We just need someone else."

"Of course I'm going to volunteer," Tanith said. "Anything to get rid of her."

"We don't even know if Nye's plan will work," Skulduggery said, sitting in his chair.

"We have to try, or else she'll come back here and destroy everything."  
"Ok," Skulduggery said, "But I don't know how to draw a Sigil. We'll have to go and see China."

"Ok. Where are we going to get another ally of Darquesse?" Valkyrie asked.

"You know those remnants?"Tanith pointed out. "They've been captured in the last few days, but if we could get one of them safely near us, they were definitely past allies."

"No WAY," Valkyrie said.

"Just trapped in a jar, not in a body. They were her most powerful allies."

"True," Skulduggery said."Ok, if you ladies would like to do that, I'll visit China. Meet me there."

"Forgiven her, then?" Tanith asked. "I heard about… her past."

"Well, I can't hold grudges,"he said. "We all have things we aren't proud of. And holding a grudge for a few hundred years has nearly been sufficient, I think."

"Well, we'll go now then,"Tanith replied. "I feel fine. If we run into trouble, we'll call you."

Skulduggery nodded. "Be careful. We don't want any accidents."

Tanith smiled wryly, hoisting her sword: "There'll be no chance of that, Mr Pleasant."

Tanith and Valkyrie got in her car and started driving.

"How have you been?" Valkyrie asked.  
"Good," she replied. "Recovering from my injuries pretty well. That last battle was pretty full on. Well done on saving the world again."

"Thanks. But you took the Black Cleaver."  
"Been waiting to get my hands on him for a while. I just wish I could've beaten him fair and square, rather than stepping out that circle. But there were more important things going on, I must admit."

"Is it true you fought naked?"  
She grinned. "All in a day's work."

"Are you sure you want to track down a Remnant?" Valkyrie asked. Tanith's grin faded.

"I don't know what I did when I was a Remnant, but the more I hear, the more horrified I get. Being evil for a few years was never on my agenda. It makes me worried. I know it wasn't me doing those things, but it was a thing that looked and sounded like me. I was a puppet. It was using me to wreak havoc. And I don't like things using me,"Tanith growled.

"I'm not going to let it happen again. Ever. I am _me_ and I will let nothing take that away."

"Good. I missed you."

"Me too. Well, if I'd have been thinking straight I would have, anyway."

They got out of the car outside an old factory. It reminded Valkyrie of the warehouse that the White Cleaver was made in, but she did her best to shake it off. Tanith opened the lock silently and they crept in. "Are you sure they're being kept here?"  
"Yeah. I was talking to the Monster Hunters the other day, and they were rounding the last few up."

"Do you think they'll mind if we take one?"  
"Not if we give it back." They crept silently through the old building. The lights were old and musty and brick walls gazed dully at them, as though they had been sleeping for a long time.

"I think they've hidden them," Tanith said. "That way, no bad people can take them and set them loose."

"How are we going to find one?" Valkyrie asked, the white light making her coat shine. "Is it like a lock? Do we need a key?"  
"I think… not," Tanith said, resting her ear against the wall. "Dammit. It's a code of some sort. I don't like codes."

Valkyrie joined her at the wall. "What sort of code?"

"Numbers. You see that brick? Those indents? I think they're the numbers." And indeed, one brick had nine indents in it. Valkyrie smoothed her hand over it, trying to detect the magic like Skulduggery and Tanith could. She could feel a tingling, like slightly more energy was embedded in this brick.

"So, we start guessing,"Valkyrie said. "How old are the Monster Hunters? I reckon they're both… thirty…and Fletcher is nineteen. Four numbers?"

"I think."

"3019." Tanith prodded some indents. It had no effect.

"We don't even know if the numbers go up or down or side to side. But I'd say side to side," Valkyrie mused. Then she began tapping in every combination she could think of, methodically, one at a time, as Skulduggery had taught her.

"Whoa! Random numbers!"Tanith exclaimed.

"Not _random,_ " Valkyrie insisted. "There's just lots of combinations."

"You do know that after a while it'll just blow us up?"

"…Didn't think about that. After how long?"

"About five minutes."  
"Oh, God!" She began to put them in faster.

Then, all the indents began to glow. "That did it," said Tanith. There was a flash and suddenly they were on the other side of the wall. Along a shelf on the walls, there sat many snow-dome-like objects with dark swirling material in them. Tanith scowled at them darkly.

"Let's take one and leave."Valkyrie picked one nearest to her and they turned back to the wall.

"Remember what the code was?"

"Not really. I was into the ones starting with two…" Valkyrie tried the last few again and suddenly they were back on the other side. Staring at somebody. Who was pointing a gun at them. A man in black.

"Get down!" said Tanith. They ducked as the person shot. Valkyrie winced as the gunshot echoed in the warehouse, hurting her ears. "Run!"

They sprinted away towards the exit. "Who are they!?" Valkyrie yelled.

"Same as before!" Tanith said. "Faceless Worshippers."  
"Faceless Worshippers?!" They rounded a corner straight into another three.

Valkyrie punched the first one, but they ducked and Valkyrie kicked out, smashing their face.

She electrified another with her lightning power. Tanith elbowed the last in the jaw, making them stumble to the ground. She kicked them in the back and they went sprawling.

Tanith dragged Valkyrie down as a bullet shot over their heads from behind. Valkyrie turned and electrified them, white lightening crackling from her fingers – the man convulsed and dropped to the ground, the gun clattering on the floor.

Then they turned and ran to the car, got in, and sped away as fast as the speed limit would allow them.

They turned up to China's apartment half an hour later. "Nice working with you again," Valkyrie said.

"Thanks," grinned Tanith.

"What do those guys want with us anyway?"

"I think it's the generic'You don't worship the Faceless Ones, therefore you are my enemy' stuff. But they are quite persistent. It's getting annoying."

"Getting you annoyed is a really terrible idea," Valkyrie said as they began climbing the stairs.

"The same can now be said for you, warrior," Tanith said. They knocked on the pale cream door at the top of the stairs.

"Come in." Valkyrie opened the door to see China and Skulduggery sitting opposite each other at a small table. Skulduggery looked uncomfortable, whereas China simply showed the soft sorrow in her countenance that she was named for. It made her even more beautiful: so much sadness welled up in glass tears, but beautiful. Her long black hair shone softly and her eyes were like pools of liquid darkness. She was safe now. Never had she loved anybody so much… Valkyrie pulled herself out of China's spell.

The apartment was wide with a long glass window, which had a spectacular view of the city.

"Hello, China," said Valkyrie.

"Hi, China," said Tanith.

"Hello Valkyrie, Tanith. Long time, no see. I hear there is a crisis for which you need my expertise?"

"Yes," Valkyrie sighed heavily. "Do you know what a Sigil is?"

China laughed softly. It sounded like a cascade of wind chimes. "Of course, child. How long it is since I have had to call you that."

"You've gone all sentimental on me," Valkyrie said.

"So I have. Come here, near the chair." China picked up her strange quill for inscribing symbols from the table. "Time is in short supply."

Darquesse's power eddied around her in waves of dark energy. It was her way of showing she was excited. She didn't want the whole army surrounding her. That was never a great place to be. So she incinerated the first creature and it's riders while it was still a few hundred metres away.

The others creatures and people screamed at her: tiny, reedy voices building up into a deafening roar. They were angry. Good.

" _Oh, Valkyrie? The show's about to start_ ," Darquesse said. She examined Valkyrie's tiny mind for a second. _"You're trying to destroy me at my roots, is that right? I think not._

 _Hang on… Tanith? A remnant? Are you being attacked? Tanith isn't a Remnant anymore. So there's an escapee… are you trying to do two things at once, Valkyrie? That's a little bit challenging for a small mind like yours. Say hi to Skulduggery for me. It won't be long before I really do kill him. Exactly the way I want to."_

They were closer now. All two hundred of them were hovering in the air, staring at her. She knew they feared her power. Feared her. _Let the fun begin_.

Darquesse screamed and turned the next creature to dust. They all began to fly in towards her, flapping their leathery wings at full speed. She threw balls of energy at them, disintegrating all they hit: people were falling from their steeds, though thousands of metres of empty air. The first few creatures were in close now: ten times bigger than her, the soldiers jumped off their backs and swarmed towards her. Darquesse created herself a sword and, spinning, chopped the first few lines in half. She took a deep breath and, feet steady on the ground, raised her hands: the air around her began to boil, heating up so much the next few lines of soldiers and creatures spontaneously combusted. She slammed her hands out at the waves of soldiers and creatures swarming at her from all sides: they were hit by a wave of energy that killed them, row upon row, until there were only twenty creatures left. The creatures attacked from the air, snarling and snapping their gaping jaws: Darquesse kicked the first creature in the jaw, putting so much power in the kick that it crumpled. She burnt another, turned a few into other weapons for her to use later and simply killed the rest by stopping their hearts.

"That was easy. Got anything harder? I'm barely out of breath."

The light swam in Valkyrie's eyes. "I see her," she said. "She's taken out their army."

"Already?" Skulduggery replied worriedly. "Is she hurt?"

"No," Valkyrie said heavily."She's wondering if they've got something harder."

"Well, they do," Skulduggery said. "The Faceless Ones."

China was inscribing a sigil into Valkyrie's arm. It was pretty sign, but with darkly harsh ink that bled into her flesh.

"Soon we're going to need some distraction tactics. When Darquesse realizes what's happening, Skulduggery, you need to talk to Valkyrie. Keep her with you. Don't let her in," China said to Valkyrie.

Then there was a crash from the stairs, and before anybody knew what was happening the Faceless worshippers were piling in.

"Dammit," Tanith growled."I've lost my patience with you lot."

"What do you gentlemen and ladies want?" China asked patiently as they burst in. Following the unexpected greeting, the one at the front said, "You're a traitor to our Church. You all are!"

"I'm sure we can sort this out," China said sweetly, turning her full-powered gaze onto the first Faceless worshipper.

"Um…" they said dumbly.

"Fight them!" the next one yelled and they rushed into the attack. Tanith swept up her sword, Valkyrie began hurling firebolts, Skulduggery was kicking Evil them very hard in the face and China's symbols began to glow around the room, now filled with scuffles and yells, short bursts of light. Suddenly, the fight began tofade under Valkyrie's eyes.

"We meet at last," Darquesse said.

It was a little stereotypical, but she was nervous, and Darquesse was not used to being nervous. The Faceless Ones, all twelve of them, hovered in front of her, a semi-circle of such power that it nearly threw her back when she concentrated on it.

They were identical: indistinct forms of dark energy, screaming and wailing and twisting themselves into form after form, invisible force bursting from their seams. Fear fluttered in Darquesses's stomach. She reached with her mind to theirs, to see their source of power: her head nearly split in two; she nearly went blind: it wasinescapable, it was maddening, so much power boiling up from an endless pit of anger and hatred that it alone was nearly enough to consume all it touched.

" _What are you?_ " they all whispered at the same time. It was a whisper, it was a scream, it was a wail: a dying man's last breath, tortured cries of agony all twisted into one horrible symphony of pain. " _You are a Sorcerer?_ " It made Darquesse want to scream.

"I-I was a Sorcerer. I am part of one. But I have taken on life of my own, and became powerful," she replied.

" _Why do you seek us out?"_ they hissed. " _We feel a remnant of the Ancients_."

"The sorcerer I came from had the blood of the Ancients. So I do too."

" _What is your name?"_

"I am Darquesse."

" _You will be destroyed, Darquesse."_

"Let's see about that."

" _We are more powerful."_

"How did you get so powerful? Why?"

" _We, too, were sorcerers. Because of a curse, all the hate and anger in the world was tied to us. It made us powerful, yes, but evil. Very powerful. The same force of evil is inside every human, to a lesser extent. They share the burden, but never take it away. And when that evil becomes conscious, is tolerated, is allowed to grow, another of us forms. You are a Faceless One_."

" _I'm_ a Faceless One?" Darquesse asked.

" _Join us. You will become powerful_."

"Well, actually, it was my dream to fight you guys," Darquesse said. "No offence."

" _If that is the way it will be, then be welcome to your death_."

Darquesse thrashed out with all her strength as the first Faceless One glided towards her. It moved inexorably through the wave of energy, absorbing it. _Damn._

She tried to suck all the power out of the Faceless One, but it was like drinking a torrent of boiling water: she choked on it as it scalded the inside of her mind.

 _Play time is over._

Darquesse slammed the Faceless One in its indistinct, powerful body: it hissed in pain, but Darquesse's hand began to smoke as though it was on fire. She hit it again and again and again: her limbs began to scream in protest. She turned all its atoms to dust, but there was _so much_ that she only destroyed half of it. It swirled around, dragging her into its cyclone, but she resisted: the sand disappeared from under her feet as it was dragged into a storm.

She ducked in, hitting it again and again, hands beginning to burn: with a final _clang_ , the universe fractured and the Faceless One exploded in a storm of darkness. Weakness washed over Darquesse and she sagged. The dust settled. There was sweat on her brow.

The world felt giddy. They were draining her power. _I'm not going out. Not like this._

Then the next one came for her, and she hit it again and again as her fingers caught fire.

Valkyrie came back just as somebody's fist slammed her face. She dragged them in with it, twisted their arm and kicked out: they fell. "Skulduggery, she's taking down the Faceless Ones!" Valkyrie exclaimed.

"STOP!" Tanith yelled. Suddenly, everything went still, mid-fight: Skulduggery was halfway through punching an older man in the chest, China was pulling a woman's hair and Valkyrie was stepping over the unconscious body of the one she's just kicked. Tanith was frozen in a struggle with a young woman with two guns, which were now pointing at her face.

"Right," Tanith said. "We know for a fact that your Gods, the Faceless Ones, are being attacked. By Darquesse. Remember her?"

The Faceless worshippers narrowed their eyes but didn't move.

"Your Gods are _dying!_ " Tanith exclaimed. "Give them extra strength to destroy her!"

All the Faceless worshippers got on their knees and began muttering.

"That's them taken care of,"Tanith said.

"Quickly," China said. "Let me finish the symbol." She rushed over with her pen and kept drawing. "Tanith, draw attention to yourself. Bring the remnant over here. Jump up and down or something."

"Really?"

"Yes." Tanith began doing starjumps.

' _I see what you're doing, Valkyrie,_ ' Darquesse whispered in Valkyrie's mind. Her voice was tired and weak.

' _I see what_ you're _doing too. Having your butt kicked_ ,' Valkyrie replied.

' _I've got six left_ ,' Darquesse hissed. Valkyrie had never heard her so tired. ' _You're next_.'

"Valkyrie," Skulduggery said."Don't let her in. Whatever you do."

' _But you can't help it, can you?_ ' Darquesse asked.

' _Go away_ ,' Valkyrie said.

' _You can't tell your dark side to go away. It's there no matter what_.'

"Val," Skulduggery said, leaning closer, "focus on my face. Remember that night I first met you? I blasted a brick wall and you thought it was cool."

"Yeah," Valkyrie replied. "I wanted to learn magic."

' _Look where that got you_.'

" _Shut up._ I was a little afraid of you, but it was the best night ever."

' _You wanted more power. You let me take over_.'

"I remember you saying, 'You have a real talent for this line of work,' or something."

"You did," Skulduggery said.

 _'_ _I'm going to kill him.'_ Darquesse said.

 _'_ _No, you aren't.'_

 _'_ _Yes, I am.'_

Suddenly, Valkyrie was there in the desert, fighting the Faceless Ones.

' _You're helpless_ ,' said Darquesse. She ducked a swipe of pure force sent out by a Faceless One and countered with one of her own.

' _I'm not you, Darquesse. And you're not me_.' Darquesse and Valkyrie threw a punch into a Faceless one that pained them both. As one, they ducked and spun, stealing the Faceless One's energy.

' _You can't fight me, can you? You're not strong enough. You have to play along._ '

Valkyrie steeled all her power, all her everything: ' _Watch me_.'

She took over Darquesse's body as if it were her own and threw herself into the Faceless One's power, screaming as she burnt in the flames of a million fires.

Skulduggery's voice."Valkyrie?"

She opened her eyes blearily."Fine." The heat and the screaming and the intense pain faded.

"Well, you were screaming for a bit there."

"None of that," China snapped.

"Ok… so, remember our old enemy Nefarious?"

"Yes."

"He was causing trouble back then, remember?"

"Yeah. With all the Hollow Men. I called them Paper Creatures. Everyone else thought that was funny."

"It was funny. Especially when I made you believe there was a whole race of octopus people."

"Aww, shut up."

China looked at them. "It should be done," she said. "Look into Darquesse's mind. Is she alive?"

Valkyrie put her mind to the tiny part of her mind that belonged to Darquesse.

Darquesse was fighting the last Faceless One. Blood and sweat ran down her arms and legs. Horror filled Valkyrie.

"She's alive," Valkyrie croaked. "She's got one left." She felt it as though it were her own pain: one arm was broken, one of Darquesse's eyes were destroyed, pain so cutting filled her she could barely fight. Valkyrie's eyes became glazed.

The Faceless One was weak. It was failing.

 _Kill her, kill her, kill her,_ Valkyrie begged. It swiped. It missed. Darquesse poured out all her power and it vanished in an explosion of darkness.

Darquesse stumbled. Shambled one broken, horrible zombie step. Dragged her eyes to stare into Valkyrie's.

Then the life went out of them and she fell, stumbled to the ground and lay motionless.

For a second there was just the desert, and Darquesse's dead body lying on the ground.

A huge crash echoed in Valkyrie's mind. Then everything went dark.

"Skulduggery?" Valkyrie said. She opened her eyes to see the China's ceiling staring at her, along with Skulduggery, China and Tanith.

"It worked. She's dead. She's gone. Forever. So are the Faceless Ones."

The Faceless worshippers were gone from the room.

Skulduggery hugged her, and Valkyrie felt tears in her eyes.

She hugged China and Tanith too. "Thank you so much, for all your help. She's gone. She's never coming back."

"Those Faceless worshippers were annoying. So I sent them to Nye's prison," Tanith said happily.

"They probably deserve it,"said China.

That part of Valkyrie's mind that had Darquesse in it was gone. Vanished. Her voice was no longer there.

"She took down all twelve Faceless Ones," Valkyrie said. "She took the most evil Gods of all time with her. She's been very useful in that regard."

"Indeed," Skulduggery replied. They left China's apartment and began walking down the street. "So, you blasted a brick wall and I thought it was cool, huh? Do you think this is cool?" Valkyrie went to electrifiy the brick wall but nothing happened. She stopped, shocked.

 _Not my magic. She didn't take my magic. Anything butthat._

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie exclaimed. " _I can't do it!_ " She tried again.

"Not at all?" he asked through his scarf.

"No," Valkyrie whispered.

"Well, it might have been a side-effect of destroying Darquesse," Skulduggery said softly. Valkyrie dropped her hand, empty.

"I made you think about the time before you knew magic. Maybe you've… lost it."

Valkyrie felt cold inside, in her insides had been frozen. She tried again. Nothing happened.

"Valkyrie, if it meant destroying Darquesse, would you have given up your power?"

Valkyrie stared. "Yes. To defeat her. But that's all."

"Well," Skulduggery said,"how about you try this?" He clicked his fingers.

Valkyrie clicked her fingers. Before she could even register, a bright flame was dancing there.

"Magic!" She exclaimed. "I'm an _Elemental!?"_

"Just as I thought," said Skulduggery. "It didn't _destroy_ your magic, it _reversed_ it. You won't ever have your Surge again, but you're an Elemental. Yay! You're one of me! How does it feel?"

"Extremely un-skeleton-like."Valkyrie tried pushing the air: her skill was undiminished. It was just as it had been when she had last done elemental magic.

"I like it. It's familiar." Sure, she'd miss electrifying people, but elemental magic was what she'd been doing all her life.

Valkyrie laughed, the weight taken off her shoulders. She linked arms with Skulduggery, chuckling at how funny it looked: a young woman arm-in-arm with a living skeleton.

"I save your life. You save mine."

"…And we save the world too. That's just the way it works."

The End


End file.
